more than a thousand utility crews from as far away as california and canada are being staged at citi field, home to the new york mets. >> we're in hand to hand combat. we are just going block to block putting up facilities that have been damaged by those winds and/or the floods. >> reporter: john is in charge of power restoration for new york's largest electric company. con ed has restored power to 800,000 customers but have 150,000 to go before a coastal storm sweeps in mid week. >> it may slow down the troops that are out there doing restoration. >> reporter: on new jersey's long beach island, homeowners, including this woman, were finally allowed to check the damage. damage. >> the bottom fell out, so we were lucky that the house is still standing. we had seen pictures of the house, so we knew it had been badly damaged, but still seeing it is painful. >> reporter: meanwhile, the gas lines could get longer. the nor'easter could knock out power to some of the pumps that's just been restored. jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. >> with that nor'easter on its way up the atlantic coast, s